The devastating recent earthquake in China has not only taken away loved ones, but it has also fueled a rage against the government for building schools that could not stand the force of the quake.

Parents of the estimated 10,000 children who lost their lives in the quake have grown so enraged about collapsed schools that they have overcome their usual caution about confronting Communist Party officials. Many say they are especially upset that some schools for poor students crumbled into rubble even though government offices and more elite schools not far away survived the May 12 quake largely intact.

It reminds me of the Margalla towers that fell during the quake in Pakistan a few years ago. Every day there was a new story to hear about a certain some one who lost their child or relative or friend in the rubble.

The grief stricken crowds in China are getting agitated by the day. They demand retribution. They demand harshest of punishments to be awarded to those who built these faulty school buildings. They also want to know why the rescue workers only worked till 10 pm on the first night when the earthquake struck and did not continue until 9 am the other day.